Cal Penn Refuses Stereotypes

A story about how actor Cal Penn refused to take stereotypical Indian roles early in his career, even when he had no other options.

"I really like about him that he just grinded super hard. At the time there were no Indian actors - the only Indian acting jobs he could get was like 'you're the convenience store guy' with a thick accent. I remember talking to him on set and asking 'What are you gonna do after this?' He said he was talking to his agent and just kept turning down roles because they just wanted him to be the stereotypical Indian guy.

I asked 'Okay cool, so what are you gonna do instead?' He said 'I don't have anything. There's no instead.' I was like 'So?' And he said 'I have no money and I'm just gonna wait till I get a real role.' He said 'If I do those stereotypical roles, I'll never get out of that type of casting, so I'm just gonna risk it all and grind through this period of not having anything until I get there.'"